Some Notes on a Recent Journey in Afghanistan

M Y original objective was Luristan, which I hoped to visit in the autumn of last year. At no time is it easy to obtain the necessary permits from the Persian Government, who are anxious for the safety of foreigners and fear lest Luristan might give the visitor a too sensational impression of their country. But the time which I had chosen for making preliminary arrangements at Tehran was especially unfortunate. A very bad impression had been created in official circles in Tehran by the narrative which a foreign expedition published in a newspaper, particular exception being taken to the account of thrills and perils. The ultimate effect was an order from a high authority forbidding travellers to enter the Luristan and Bakhtiari provinces, and I was the first to feel the weight of this heavy penalty. Other interests occupied me in Persia until the spring of this year, when the opportunity presented itself through the kindness of His Excellency the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Persia, Sher Ahmad Khan, to make a journey to Afghanistan and the less-known provinces of that country: Turkistan and Badakhshan. My friend Mr. Robert Byron had already attempted this journey in the winter. He is engaged on a work dealing with Islamic art in Persia and Afghanistan, and the object of his attempt was to visit Herat, Balkh, and Ghazni. He left Tehran at the beginning of November, crossed the Parapamisus, but was unable to go farther north than Kala Nao owing to heavy rains, and snow on the Turkistan pass. Nevertheless this short reconnaissance journey was, owing to his habit of acute observation, of great assistance to us on the second venture when, disappointed in my hopes of seeing the remote and great in Persia, I joined him. Much of the recording of the road was his work, of which I believe the public is to be offered a more detailed account in the form of a travel book from his pen. I offer these notes as likely to be of interest to readers of this Journal, not because of any valuable geographical observations made, but because these provinces are not often visited and as yet few travellers have done the journey by car, particularly by the TashkurganKhanabad road

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Government (linguistics · Islam · Kindness · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Newspaper · Persian · Political science · Sociology · Theology · Visitor pattern · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East

• New Histories for the Age of Speed

  Open Access•Nile Green•Iranian Studies•2021

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